An Outsiders Christmas
by GottaGetGreg
Summary: Takes place a few months after the book. The gang gets ready for the approaching holiday. A flurry, if you will, of excitement takes its toll. Sorry, no Johnny or Dally. I know, I miss them too! Now it's out of season, but whatever.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hey, whaddup? Yeah, weird, anyways...I hope everyone is having a good day, and I hope that this story will make it a little bit better. So, reviews are always welcome, duh! If there are any questions, comments, or concerns just let me know. Also, if anyone has any suggestions as to where they would like to see the story go, just tell me. I have an idea, but ideas are always welcome! Happy reading!

**Disclaimer:**Not mine. If they were, I probably wouldn't be doing this. Pretty simple, eh?

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"Soda, Pony! Come on guys, time to wake up!" yelled Darry from the kitchen where he was making breakfast. As soon as the smell of eggs and bacon reached their room, Sodapop was out of bed and ready to go. Ponyboy, on the other hand, was hoping that if he covered himself with the blanket he would disappear and not have to go to school.

"Ponyboy Curtis, get out of that bed! Come on, you only have a few more days of school till break!"

**Ponyboy's POV**

A rush of excitement swept over me as I remembered that it was almost time for Christmas break. I figured that I might as well get out of bed and go to school. What the heck, only a few days left. I took a shower, got dressed, and then went into the kitchen only to find Soda on, what could be, his fourth helping of eggs with grape jelly.

"So nice of you to join us." said Darry from the kitchen table as he was reading the morning paper. I just smiled at him; I didn't want to start anything.

"Hey Pony, you have track after school?" asked Soda through his food.

"Yeah, I have it until break starts." He nodded and continued to eat. I looked at him a little longer, he seemed kinda pale. Maybe it was just his interesting choice of breakfast finally getting to him. Before I could say anything, though, I heard a car horn outside. Two-Bit and Steve were waiting for me so we could drive to school together.

"Bye, y'all." I said as I was walking out the door, not even waiting for a response.

School has gotten easier over the past few months. With everything that happened, I found out there were more people that cared about me than I thought. My grades are back up, too. I don't think I need to say that Darry was pleased. My favorite class is English, partly because I like to write and partly because there's this girl named Emma that sits next to me. She's about 5'2" with long brown hair that shines in the sun. She has the brightest green eyes I have ever seen and she is also pretty smart. I know this because she's my age, but they moved her up a grade level, like me, because she was so smart. I don't talk to her that often, I usually get nervous, but when I do she is always nice and polite. The only bad thing is that she seems more like the socy type. I don't know if she would give me a chance, but then again I've never asked her out, so I don't really know.

"Alright class, I know you're all excited about Christmas break coming up, but we still need to have class." said Mr. Symes from the front of the classroom. I could tell that he wanted to get out of school as much as we did, if not more. "Now, who's ready to hear about your projects?" audible groans were heard throughtout the classroom. "Calm down, calm down. You're going to get all break to work on them. I'm the one that has to grade all of them after break is over." joked Mr. Symes. He is actually a pretty funny guy if you get to know him. "So, you all get to choose your partners and then write a book report together from any of the books listed on the sheet I gave you." I suddenly became very nervous. I don't have that many friends in my English class because I'm younger than everyone else. In the middle of my silent panic I felt an elbow nudge me in the side. I looked over at who did it, it was Emma.

"Hey, Ponyboy. Would you like to be my partner?"she said very shyly.

"Yeah, sure."I answered. I could feel my face getting hot. She smiled and turned away. I guess this project will be more fun than I thought.

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**A/N:** It's a little short, well a lot short, but it's just getting started. Suggestions, inquiries, or just comments, all are welcome. You know what to do! Thanks! -GottaGetGreg


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know. Christmas has passed (long ago) and this story is only at chapter 2. What can I say? I'm sorry. Maybe it'll be done by this christmas...who knows? Probably not me. Anyways, I'm really sorry for the delay. So, here's chapter 2. Remember, if you would like to see the story moving a certain direction, tell me. Thanks! 

Disclaimer: I own emma, big woop. Otherwise, naddah. 

After track practice, I walked outside to find Soda in an old car. He told me and Darry that he found a used truck and was going to buy it if he saved up enough money for it. I guess he did.

"You buy that truck?"

"Yeah, great ain't it?"

"Yeah." I stepped into the nearly broken down truck and looked around. It wasn't a mustang, but at least it worked. I didn't want to say anything bad about it cause I could tell Soda was really proud of it. I started to tell him about Emma, but he was just too excited to care about anything else at the moment. He still looked pale, and his cheeks were a little bit flushed too. I guess Soda saw me staring at him because he gave me a funny look.

"What?" He asked confused.

"You alright?" I questioned, a little concerned.

"Yeah…I'm fine." Then he started talking about his truck again. I could tell he was covering, though. He really didn't look that good. I just hoped he would tell me if he felt really bad. I can't even remember the last time Soda got sick, Darry yes, but Soda never gets sick.

When we arrived at home, it was almost time for dinner. I finished my math and then set the table. During dinner, I told Darry and Soda about Emma. They seemed excited for me because I think they knew how much I liked her. I noticed that Soda barely ate anything, but Darry didn't say anything so I didn't either.

After dinner, Soda went into our room, leaving the dishes for me. It didn't take that long, though. When I was finished, I was going to go check on Soda. Truthfully, I was getting worried. He hadn't come out of our room since dinner ended. My hand was on the knob, ready to go in, but then the phone rang.

"Ponyboy, come here." Shouted Darry.

"Yeah?"

"There's a girl on the phone for you." He said bluntly and then handed me the phone. I started to panic, but eventually regrouped myself enough to grab the phone from Darry.

"Hello?" I said nervously.

"Hi Ponyboy, this is Emma from English class. "

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks. I just though that we should set up a time to work on the project together."

"Oh yeah, sure, does Saturday at three work for you, my house?"

"That sounds good"

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Pony." I hung up the phone with a slightly shaking hand. That wasn't so bad, and now I get to see Emma outside of school. Boy, was I ever excited.

It was about time to go to sleep, so I went into the bedroom. Soda was lying on the bed with our regular blanket and then one more on top of him. I think he was also wearing sweat pants. The house wasn't cold. I mean, sure it's winter, but we do have heating in the house. I slid into bed and glanced at Soda. He looked about the same as he did before.

"Soda, you cold?"

"Yeah, it's the damn winter man." He was still covering. I put my arm around him in an attempt to warm him up. When I touched his skin, though, it was hot. Now I was really starting to get worried. I decided to wait and see if Soda asks for help. I know he would if he really needed it, right? Maybe things will be better in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: here's chapter 3, better late then never, eh? Happy reading! 

Disclaimer: nnnoooooootttttttt mmmmmmiiiiiiiinnnnnnneeeeeee! 

They didn't have to wait until tomorrow to find out if things were getting better. Soda woke up in the middle of the night with a start. He felt unbelievably hot. Tearing the covers off of his sweat soaked body, he started towards the bathroom. Being quiet, though, so as to not wake up Ponyboy who was sleeping next to him and Darry who was sleeping in the other room. He remembers that he has not been feeling too good for the past week or so. He dismissed it as a cold, thinking and hoping that it would be gone in a day or two. He realizes now that he was wrong. Soda reached the bathroom and looked into the mirror. He was not surprised to find his face a slightly lighter shade, he has gotten used to the pallor that it has recently taken on. Something that he was surprised about, though, was his flushed cheeks spotted light red with fever. He put a hand to his forehead and found it to be burning up. No wonder I feel so hot, he thought. He dampened a cloth in the sink with cold water and wiped his face off. He was still hot, but he felt a little better. He trodded back to bed and fell back to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. The following morning, Soda woke up to Ponyboy shaking him lightly.

"Come on Soda, wake up. You better get out of this bed or Darry and I'll skin you, ya hear?"

"I'm awake. I'm awake. Come on Pony, get off." After Sodapop sat up for afew seconds, Ponyboy was able to see what his brother looked like. But before Pony could say anything, Soda started to cough as he climbed out of the bed. When he was finally over the fit, his eyes were watering and his cheeks were even more flushed that before.

"Gosh Soda, are you okay?" Sodapop turned to face his brother, whose concern was evident in his eyes.

"Uh, yeah." Soda felt bad lying to his brother, but he knew that he couldn't tell him how he really felt because then he would probably be forced to stay home from work. And no work equals no pay, something that the Curtis family could not afford at the moment. Ponyboy took one last look at his brother, shrugged, then went off into the kitchen for breakfast, leaving Soda alone to get ready. Soda thought that he might feel better after a hot shower, so he went into the bathroom and took one. After he was done, he didn't feel as groggy, but he still felt sick. He even started to feel cold, instead of hot, despite the high temperature of the shower, and the one inside of him. Soda walked out of the bathroom fully dressed for work, but bumped into Steve who was waiting for Two-Bit and Pony so they could go to school together.

"Hey man, watch where you're going," joked Steve "Glory, you don't look so good Soda. You feeling alright?" Asked Steve upon further inspection of his best friend.

"Yeah, yeah. Just try not to let Darry find out, okay?"

Soda's POV

I was worried that everyone was going to see through me. I really didn't want our family to lose money on account of me, it just didn't seem worth it. Two-Bit finally came over so he, Steve, and Pony left for school. I was sitting on the couch waiting for Darry to drive us to work when I started to doze off. I suddenly woke up, though, when I felt a cool hand on my forehead. I bolted off of the couch, leaving Darry with a confused look on his face.

"At least let me take your temperature, you feel like you have a fever." said my older brother.

"Darry, no. I'm fine. Let's get to work or we're gonna be late." I finally got to work without Darry questioning me anymore, but I knew that he was going to be all over me when he got home. I was just glad that I had a little time to myself at work. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a little time at work turned out to be a long time. It seemed like the longest day I have ever worked, and it didn''t help that I started to feel worse as the day progressed. When Steve came to work after school I was almost ready to throw in the towel, almost. I felt like I did something wrong because all day Steve kept an eye on me, it was kind of weird.

Well, the day finally ended and Steve drove me home then went home himself. He said that he couldn't stay over because he was supposed to cook dinner tonight. I felt kind of lost because Steve usually comes over after work, so I walked in the house and sat down on the couch.

"Soda, that you?" Called Pony from our room.

"Yeah, it's me," I yelled back and then started coughing immediately.

"You okay?" asked my younger brother with a concerned look on his face as soon as I was done. I just nodded.

"How was school today, Pony?"

"It was fine. I finished all of my work already cause they're not giving us a lot on account of Christmas break coming up in a few days."

"That's good. I bet Darry'll be happy to hear that."

"Haha, yeah. I hope. So how was work?"

"Slow and dull." I suddenly started to feel really tired and a little dizzy. Ponyboy started to walk back towards our room to read.

"Hey, Pony, it's Darry's turn to cook dinner tonight, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason, I just thought I'd take a nap before we ate." Pony nodded and headed back toward our room, and I followed him. Pony was sitting at the desk reading some book he said was for a book report. I laid down on the bed and tried to go to sleep. I was getting dizzier and I didn't want to risk doing anything else besides sleeping.

Pony POV

After about and hour and a half Darry came home. He fixed dinner and told me to wake up Soda so we can eat. Darry seemed kind of concerned about Soda, and I don't blame him, I was too. He never takes naps in the middle of the day.

"Hey Soda, wake up. It's time for dinner." I whispered as I was shaking his shoulder, but he wasn't waking up.

"Come on, Soda." Nothing.

A/N: Would this be considered a cliffhanger? Perhaps... I hope you liked this chapter. Same thing applies, suggestions are fabulous! Thanks! 


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